


Bangs

by Dark_and_night



Category: House of Wax (2005)
Genre: Breakup, F/M, First Meetings, and they were all normal au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24333490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_and_night/pseuds/Dark_and_night
Summary: You just broke up with your boyfriend, and a handsome douchebag is making your day so much worse.
Relationships: Bo Sinclair/You
Comments: 27
Kudos: 144





	1. Chapter 1

Three years of your life down the drain. Three years you had given to a man who decided he didn’t want you, and the worst part was, he didn’t give you a clear reason. You could see your future now. In half a year you would run into your ex at a fucking olive garden with his new girlfriend (because of course he would have a girlfriend), and you’d probably have sauce all over your shirt from a waiter spilling an entire tray of food on you, and you’d cry at the sight of your ex and beg for closure.

You know, just as a wild guess. 

Already, you had given away any clothes you had bought that he had said he liked (which you were already regretting, because those also happened to be the clothes you looked best in), and had cut yourself bangs in the bathroom. You were about one nervous breakdown in a Baskin Robbins from dying it a funky color too.

Though you were still completely torn up about the breakup, you had decided that you were going to try to win the breakup, starting with making a habit of jogging. 

Which led you to crying on a bench in the park in sweats. 

Most people saw the sight of a crying jogger on a bench and adverted their eyes, walking past you as fast as they possibly could, but one man eyed you from a few feet away, his hands in his pockets.

You looked up at him, your nose running, your eyes finally running out of tears. “Bite me.” You tried to say it with a cutting voice, but it just came out in a squeak.

“If you’re into that.” The man said, smirking. He sauntered over, plopping down on the bench next to you. “What’s got a cute thing like you so worked up?”

“Fuck off, I’m-.” You hiccupped. “Jogging.”

“I can see that.” He smirked, a slight southern drawl to his voice. “So what’s got a cute thing like you joggin’, then?”

You wiped your nose on your sleeve, not caring how gross it was. You kept glaring down the man, but he just smiled at you easily. Something in the way he moved let you know that he thought he was hot shit.

“For your information, I’m going to jog, and get all fit, and tears clear your skin.” You spread out your arms, gesturing at yourself. “I am winning a breakup over here.”

He looked you up and down, raising an eyebrow at you. “No you ain’t.”

“Listen here, asshole-.”

“Name’s Bo.” He interrupted. “And you lost the second you cut bangs.”

You blinked in surprise, your anger and embarrassment receding slightly. “What?”

“Lost the moment you cut those.” Bo pointed to your hair. “That’s just something people know.”

“No they don’t. I didn’t lose, I mean-. Who told you that?” You snapped, looking up at your bangs and running your fingers through them. “I did not lose!”

“It’s just a fact.” Bo chuckled. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“That is not a fact! It’s just a hairstyle!” You snapped.

Bo shoved his hand in his pocket, pulling out his phone, dialing a number and putting it on speaker. “Take a gander.”

“Um?” You started as the person on the other end picked up.

“Hello?” A woman’s voice said.

“Carly, it’s Bo, settle a bet for me.” Bo said. “Bangs mean a woman’s going through shit, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Carly said on the other end. “It’s a known fact?”

“It is not a known fact!” You said defensively before you could help it. “Who even are you people?”

Carly groaned. “God, Bo, are you harassing people again?”

“That’s all I do, people don’t like my company, you know that.” Bo chuckled. “I’ll see you later, I gotta fight off a stranger.”

“Don’t call me to insult people’s hai-!” She was cut off when Bo hung up on her.

He chuckled, putting his phone away. “Told ya.”

“Oh god.” Your eyes started watering again as you doubled over, putting your head on your knees. “I’m losing the breakup.”

“Hey, hey, don’t start crying again.” Bo pat your back. “Look, to make up for ruining your mornin’, I’ll treat you to coffee or ice cream or something.”

You turned, glaring at him through your fresh tears. “Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s better than cryin’ by yourself on a bench.” Bo stood, holding out his hand. “Come on.”

You glared at him, slowly taking his hand. “I’m (y/n).”

He helped you up, grinning. “Now, if you need help getting back at someone, I’m your man.” Bo chuckled, walking with you. “How do ya feel about bodily harm?”

“Against it.” You said quickly.

“Making someone jealous?” He tried.

“Exactly what I was going for.” You smiled slightly, wiping your eyes again.

He grinned. “I’ll help ya with that. I love a good revenge plot.”


	2. Revenge Plot

The two of you found a coffee shop not too far away from the park. Everyone inside was either groups of tired moms flocking together or young hot well-dressed people. You were in a sports bra and a baggy t-shirt and sweats with a lazy ponytail and puffy post-crying eyes. It kind of bothered you, but after crying in public you had already gotten as low as was possible for one day.

Bo and you sat at a table in a corner of the shop. Bo leaned back in his chair, watching you silently as you rambled to him about your ex and how you were going to bounce back and how you were totally doing okay despite how things looked. 

Bo didn’t seem to be paying close attention as he sipped his coffee, but it felt good to unload all of your breakup baggage on some unsuspecting stranger who was also kind of a jerk. He nodded along to what you were saying, slowly twirling his cup with his fingers.

“But anyway, I am going to start jogging for real tomorrow.” You took a deep gulp of air between sentences to make up for the fact you hadn’t taken a breath in about five straight minutes. “And I’m going to buy three hundred and sixty-five face masks and use one every day and drink like, apple cider vinegar and shit.”

He nodded again, taking another drink of his coffee. “Why?”

“For my skin, duh.” You huffed, taking a sip of your blended s’more Frappuccino that had the same number of calories as a small meal. “And apple cider vinegar helps you lose weight, I heard.”

Clearing his throat, he eyed your drink. He didn’t say anything, but his expression said it all.

“Well fuck you too.” You huffed, taking another sip. “I’ll start the diet tomorrow.”

“Why is it so important that you win? Obviously the one who dumps wins.” He said. They way he stated his opinions as if they were facts annoyed you.

“No, no.” You held up for finger. “Whoever wins is the one who is doing the best whenever they see each other next.”

“If the two of you ran into each other tomorrow, he would still win.” Bo said. “So what’s the point of making long term plans?”

You jerked as if you were going to come back at him with a cutting reply, but you couldn’t think of one. Finally you decided on saying: “We’re not going to see each other tomorrow.”

“But you could.” Bo replied simply. 

You felt your face flush, and you took another sip of your drink as angerly as you could. Bo chuckled at the sight, smirking. You wanted to slap him.

“I don’t know why I came here with you.” You snapped, standing. “You’re the worst.”

“Come on, come on.” Bo chuckled, standing. “I’m just pointin’ out flaws in your grand master plan.”

“You’re being a jerk.” Picking up your drink, you turned towards the door. 

Bo followed you, holding his cup, an unbothered expression on his face.

“Don’t follow me.” You frowned. 

“Why shouldn’t I?” He said, opening up the door for you. “A little walk will do us good after drinking all this sugar.”

Groaning, you pushed past him, walking as fast as you could to get away from him. Bo easily kept up with you with his accursedly long legs. 

“Don’t you have anything better to do other than annoy me?” You frowned.

“Not today, no. And I thought that I was going to help you come up with a revenge plot.” Bo said.

“Yeah, but you haven’t come up with anything, you’ve just been spacing out.” You replied, sipping your drink as you walked. No matter how annoyed you were, you were a little charmed by his persistence. But only a little.

Bo chuckled, tossing his cup in a trash can. “I was listenin’. I think we need to play a classic you got a man that looks better than him, has a better job than him, and of course performs sexually better than him play.”

“A fake dating scenario?” You rolled your eyes. “That’s the worst sitcom-esque trope in the book! Anyone would be able to see right through it. I’m not the type who can get into relationships fast. He’d know I was just trying to get back at him.”

“Don’t knock the classics.” Bo laughed. “Aight, let me think of another play.”

“There is no other play.” You sighed heavily. “You were right. I lost the moment he dumped me.”

He held up his hand. “Hey, don’t get weak on me now.” He chewed the inside of his cheek in thought. “I would suppose the best way to win would be to be doing better than him in your career then. What does he do for a living?”

“Well, Ned-.”

“I can’t believe an ugly-named fucker can make a pretty girl like you such a wreck.” Bo mumbled under his breath. 

“Ned,” You continued, shooting Bo a glare, “works in marketing. But…” You paused, squeezing your cup nervously. You had already told this perfect stranger a lot of personal things, but telling him one of Ned’s secrets seemed wrong. On the other hand, you were still hurt and angry. And you did want to use every last one of Ned’s weaknesses against him to make yourself better – even if only for a moment.

“But?” Bo pressed.

You sighed, shrugging slightly. “Ned is actually, um, he’s secretly a popular erotica writer.”

Bo looked at you for a moment, people brushing past the two of you on the street. Then he doubled over in laughter. Literally, he clutched his stomach as he roared with laughter, bending over and putting his hands on his knees.

Crossing your arms, you huffed in annoyance. But the way your lip curled up slightly showed passers-by that you were amused.

“A male erotica writer?” Bo gasped, reaching out and leaning on a light post, his laughter coming out in gasps. “Oh my god.”

You giggled slightly, looking away and smiling. “Yeah, he keeps it on the down low.”

“That’s the best shit I’ve ever heard in my entire damn life.” Bo straightened up, a wide grin on his face. “A man named Ned writes erotica for a living.”

“He doesn’t use his real name! His books are mostly fantasy and the kind of stuff you’d see in the comments of porn gifs online.” You elaborated, biting your cheek to keep from smiling wider. “But, he’s actually fairly popular. He’s not a household name or anything, but he basically makes minimum wage on his books.”

Bo coughed, his laughter finally wrapping up, though the amused smile stayed on his face. “Well, that shows an easy option for revenge.”

“And what would that be?” You asked slowly, already kind of having a feeling of what he was going to say.

He shrugged, giving you a wry look. “Write sex books too.”


	3. Blinking Line

You sat in front of your computer, starting at that judgmental blinking line on a word document. You didn’t know what you were doing, this was such a stupid idea. Pulling out your phone, you scrolled through your contacts, landing on Bo’s contact. You weren’t even entirely sure why you had decided to take his number, much less why you were trying to take his advice on how to get back at your ex.

Your finger hovered over the call button, uncertainly coursing through you. You could just not call the weirdo and pretend all of this never happened. Bo did annoy you a lot, and you had no idea who he was, really. 

It was either start writing revenge erotica, or you could take another swing at jogging again.

You pressed the call button. 

The phone rang, and you tapped your nails on the table, half-hoping he wouldn’t answer. 

The line clicked alive, and loud screamo music burst through the receiver. You shrieked in surprise and pain, shoving the phone away from you. You heard a mean cackle on the other end before the music turned down.

“Hello?” Bo said.

Suspiciously, you put the phone back to your ear. “Is that how you answer all your phone calls?”

“Only when people have the audacity to call me at work.” Bo chuckled on his end, sitting down on a stool. “Couldn’t get enough of me, huh?”

“I’d apologize for calling at work, but you’re an asshole.” You rubbed your temple, halfway wondering if you should have just gone jogging instead. 

Bo laughed, leaning back and grinning to himself. “What do you want?”

You glared at the little blinking line on the frigid white document. “This was a stupid idea. I can’t write in general, much less erotica, there’s got to be a better way to win this breakup.”

“Well, you’re still against violence?” He asked.

“Yes.” You replied.

He chuckled. “And also against fake dating someone hotter than Ned?”

“You’re really hung up on his name, and yes.” You said.

“I am, because it makes me think of Ned Flanders and I just can not imagine Ned Flanders breaking a pretty little heart like yours.” Bo replied, rolling his eyes. “So the best revenge I can come up with is you getting more popular than him.”

“This was a stupid plan.” You sighed.

“Well, either that or become his boss. What’s he do for his normal livin’?” He asked.

“Accountant.” You said.

Bo snorted on his end, taking off his cap and shaking his head. “Ned, the accountant? You’d really rather do math than write about dicks?”

You laughed softly, shaking your head. “I don’t want to do either of those things. I can’t even think of a plot.”

“What about recently dumped woman bangs sexy mechanic?” He smirked.

You couldn’t help but laugh to yourself more. “You’re impossible, I don’t even know why I gave you my number.”

Bo smiled to himself, standing. “Look, why don’t you look up his most popular books and see what they’re about?”

You opened up your browser, typing in Ned’s erotica author name, going to his website. You held the phone to your ear with your shoulder, listening to Bo’s soft breathing as you looked them up. 

“It looks like, his top five are a mixture of his fantasy ones and his just plain porn ones.” You murmured, reading one of the descriptions. 

“Just plain porn, huh?” He asked.

“You know, like, it could be interchanged with the plot to a porn, like he wasn’t even trying.” You shook your head at the badly photoshopped cover. You’d never really looked into Ned’s side gig as a writer before, and you weren’t entirely impressed by what you saw. “God, who reads this stuff?”

Chuckling, Bo picked up a wrench, fiddling with it while he was on the line with you. “Plenty of people.” 

Scanning the titles, you realized Ned had written a lot more books than you thought he had. “God, he’s been a lot busier than I thought.”

“Does he use his real name for these things?” Bo put the wrench on his shoulder, walking around in a circle, getting bored.

“No, his pen name is Sycamore Morning.” You replied.

Bo burst out laughing so hard on his end you had to take the phone away from your ear. You glared down the phone, while on his end Bo was laughing so hard he had to sit back down.”

“Sycamore-! Morning-!” Bo cackled, tossing his hand on the ground. “As in, fuckin’-! Morning wood?”

“What? That so doesn’t mean that!” You snapped.

“Sycamore is a type of tree, doll.” Bo tried to calm himself down, still chuckling to himself. “Trees are made of wood. His name is fuckin’ morning wood!”

You pursed your lips together, trying your best not to laugh, not wanting to give Bo the satisfaction. A giggle escaped you before you could stop yourself. “Oh my god.” You chuckled.

Bo heard the bell of someone walking into his shop. He stood back up, snapping into work mode. “I gotta go. Just start with what you know, like take this break up but make it sexy. Talk to you later.” He hung up before you could reply.

It took you a moment to realize you’d been hung up on. You set your phone down, looking at your ex’s website. This did feel stupid, but you wanted to get back at him in any way you could.

Clicking back into the document, you decided to start with what you knew, like what Bo said. You put your fingers on the keys, deciding to not start from the beginning, but to start at where the main man would come in.

‘Did someone break your pretty little heart?’

You’d make him seem less like Bo later.


	4. Thrift Store

Bo stood beside his car, looking at his watch. He wasn’t a very patient man, and you were a little late.

“Bo!” You called, giving him a wave. You leisurely walked over, not bothering to hurry up.

He pushed off his car, walking over to you. “You’re late.”

“By like five minutes.” You rolled your eyes. “That doesn’t even count as late.”

“No, on time is late. Five minutes late is half an hour late.” Bo started walking to the strip mall with you. 

Suppressing a smile, you followed close behind him. “That made no sense.”

He chuckled, glancing back at you. “How goes the writing?”

“Not great.” You answered honestly. “You know I have a life outside of half-assed sabotage. Like work, family, things like that.”

Smirking that smirk you hated so much, he walked up to the thrift store, holding open the door for you. “So you have no idea where to start.”

You ignored the fact that you had fashioned the only scene you had written around your and Bo’s first meeting and stepped inside. “I have an idea.”

“How many pages you got?” He asked, stepping in after you.

“That’s not important.” One.

The both of you were immediately assaulted by the musty scent of objects that had belonged to many other people. The air was stale, and there was an old woman behind the counter wearing a vest that looked like it had come from one of the clearance racks. 

Most of the objects were scattered around, with beige metal shelves holding the hodge podge of unrelated items. Clothing racks were shoved in the back, each one with written signs on top of them saying what sizes and genders the clothes were for.

“So, why did you want to meet here?” You asked, looking around the poorly lit store. “I mean, I’m all for thrift shopping don’t get me wrong, but I figured a guy like you would get bored watching me try to find the right size pants.”

Bo grinned, walking towards the wall that held all the books. “I had some time at work the other day after you called, so I called around to some thrift stores around town.”

“Mkay?” You asked, walking to the books with him. 

He walked over to the bookshelves, looking over the spines before pulling out a small paperback, tossing it in your direction. You accidentally bat it out of the way, and you uselessly watched the book fall to the floor, half-open, the pages getting bent.

Bo looked back up at you, an unamused look on his face. “Nice catch.”

“Warn me next time!” You snapped, crouching down and picking it up, looking at the cover. 

SYCAMORE MORNING glared back at you in beg yellow text right above a badly photoshopped picture of a woman in slutty teacher-esque outfit in front of a man in a suit. The title was smaller than the pen name. 

Groaning, you held the book away from you as if it smelled bad. “'Teacher Bitch'? What a sexist fucking title. What’s the point of this?”

“The point, you unappreciative little shit, is that now you can read this guy’s work without giving him money.” Bo grinned, pointing to the book. “You don’t have to be the best writer in the world, you just have to be better than him. And now you’ll know how good that is.”

Blowing air out your nose, you shook your head. “You have way too much time on your hands.”

“So what if I do?” He asked, looking only mildly offended by your insult. “I’m invested now, I’m seeing this thing through to the end.”

“You’re a dork.” You smiled, turning the book around to look at the back synopsis. What you saw made you freeze.

Ned’s face looked at you from the back over, his face in a tiny little box next to the description. No matter how dorky Bo thought his name was, Ned was an attractive guy. It felt like all of the air left your lungs.

You shoved the book into Bo’s chest, crossing your arms tightly. Bo frowned and looked at the picture, eyebrows raising as he realized what had upset you.

“I’ll pay for this so you don’t gotta.” He held up the book so the front cover was facing you. “But you owe me a quarter.”

“Put it on my tab.” You mumbled, trying to be witty.

He shrugged slightly and brushed past you to the cashier. You stayed in place for a moment, blinking back tears. You didn’t think seeing a picture of him could upset you this much, but here you were.

Behind you, you heard Bo and the cashier chit chat as he bought the book. 

Sighing, you pulled yourself together, turning to be Bo stabbing the book with his pocket knife.

“Hey, hey!” You shouted, running over.

Bo ripped the knife through the back cover before tossing the book over to you, which you almost caught, but didn’t. Once again, it clattered to the ground, back cover up. Groaning, you bent down to get it, realizing that Ned’s picture had been cut out.

Bo shoved his knife back in his pocket, looking at the tiny picture with a disgusted look on his face. 

“What an ugly bitch.” He said, shoving the picture in his pocket along with his knife.

“He is not ugly!” You snapped defensively, to which Bo rolled his eyes.

He turned to the door, walking out. “Come on, we got one more stop.”

“Where?” You asked, following him, ignoring the tiny butterflies that were forming in your stomach at the thought that Bo would even think to cut out Ned’s picture for you. 

Walking outside, Bo pointed to a store a few stores down. “There.”

You followed him, looking where he was pointing, your hands flying to your mouth in surprise.

Bo was pointing at a sex shop.


	5. Sex Store

“Oh no. No no. No no no.” You scoffed, walking around in a circle, waving your hand as if trying to wave away the entire building. “I can not go into a sex store. You know that God and all your dead ancestors are always watching you, right? I can’t have them watch me walk into a sex store.”

Bo snorted, smirking at you. “You say that while trying to write a sex book. And you’ve had sex. God and your dead ancestors watched you take dick every single time you’ve had sex by that logic.” He chuckled to himself, walking toward the store. “And by that logic, all those guys are perverts.”

Against your better judgment, you trailed after him, clutching your ex’s book to your chest. “That’s not what I meant.”

“And again, by that logic, every time you’re all by yourself watching weird porn, all your dead ancestors are over your shoulder watching the pervy shit you’re getting off to.” Bo looked back at you and grinned. “Oh, if the dead could talk.”

You tried your best not to smile while he was looking at you, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. You bit your cheek as you responded. “I watch perfectly normal porn, thank you very much.”

“So you watch porn?” Bo said triumphantly as he opened the door to the sex shop, stepping inside before you could reply. Leaving you with one choice; to leave and let him get the last word, or step into the sex shop and keep on play-bickering. 

Pulling the door open, you stepped inside to see Bo already eyeing some sexy lingerie. You smiled and rolled your eyes at his back. 

“Bonathan, never accuse a lady of watching porn.” You tried to sound stern when you walked up to him, but he just frowned, looking over at you.

“Bonathan?” He gasped incredulously. “Do you actually think that Bo is short for Bonathan?”

Truth be told, you really didn’t think that Bo was short for Bonathan, but his look of complete and utter despair made you want to keep the joke going. You bit your cheek, trying to keep an irritated expression on your face as you put your hands on your hips.

“Yes, of course I do. What else would Bo be short for?” You continued frowning, praying that you could keep this up without bursting out laughing.

Bo held up a finger, opening his mouth as if to say something. He made a clicking noise with his tongue, letting his hand drop back to his side.

“You know what? I’m not gonna touch that with a ten-foot pole.” He sighed, though you could see the side of his mouth turn up like he was trying not to smile. Bo turned, gesturing to the interior of the sex store, which you had honestly been trying not to look at from the moment you stepped inside. “I got you inside. Now, does anything in here speak to you?”

“Speak to me?” You laughed. “No, I’m embarrassed to even be in here.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be stupid.” He said bluntly. “It’s just sex stuff. Adults like sex stuff.”

“Not all of them, actually. But that’s a whole separate conversation with a lot of things I’m not feeling up to explaining to you.” You said, looking around. “It feels embarrassing to be in here.”

Bo rolled his eyes. “My point is that you’re obviously not having an easy time writing the book. Look around, get inspired.”

You blew air out your nose and looked around, shaking your head slightly. You reached out, plucking the spaghetti strap of a bustier. “Inspired, huh?”

He looked at the shelf behind him, looking back at you with a wicked grin on his face. “Yeah, inspired.” He grabbed a box, holding it in front of your face. “Does this inspire you?”

What he had put in front of you was a box holding a realistic ejaculating dildo, complete with three free refills of fake cum. 

It took a minute for you to absorb what the hell you were looking at. You had to read the text several times to understand what it said, and you had to look at the pictures a few more times for the entire idea to sink in. 

A barking laugh escaped you, and you covered your mouth while physically stepping away from the box. You kept laughing, covering your whole face as your body started to shake with laughter. You could feel how hot your face was behind your hands, and Bo started laughing as well.

“Wh-wh-who buys that kind of thing?” You gasped out, taking your hands off your face.

Bo shrugged, chuckling while looking over the box. “People who have been single too long?”

You kept giggling, looking away from the box to keep from bursting out laughing again. “D-do you think that if you put real cum in that it could work as an inseminator?”

He paused, frowning in confusion. “If you have the guy with the cum why not just have sex?”

“I guess if you’re a lesbian who wants a baby and has some sort of arrangement-? It’s not important.” You waved it off, looking past him to the other toys. “How on earth is any of this supposed to help me?”

He raised his eyebrow at your inseminator comment but turned to the toys as well, shrugging slightly. “Well, have ya tried writing a sex scene yet?”

You picked up a little box that held a butt plug that somehow cost twenty-five dollars. Was that a regular price for such a tiny little thing? You put the box back, wiping your hand on your shirt.

“I tried, I felt silly. I cannot stress enough how stupid I find this revenge plan sometimes.” You said. 

Bo shrugged, walking around slowly. “Well, I had a bug in my brain that you’d have an easier time if you used something to get yourself off while you write.”

You tore your eyes away from an eight-inch dildo to look at Bo. “Excuse me?”

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disgust. “How is it that you were in a relationship with a guy who writes erotica, and yet you’re such a prude? Was he just bad in bed or are you just too damn stiff?”

“Excuse me?” You snapped. “For the record, I am very good at sex. So good in fact that I don’t need help from silicone.” You gestured to whatever sex toys were next to you.

Holing up his hands in surrender, Bo gave you a shit eating grin. “Touchy, sorry. But it’s not a bad idea, right? It’d be easier to write about getting off if you’re actually getting off.”

The idea wasn’t actually a bad one, but Bo’s implication that your sex life had been tragic had irritated you to the point that you didn’t want to agree with him on anything ever again. 

“I get to punch you one time for that.” You said holding up your index finger.

“Fair enough.” Bo turned holding out his arm to you. You gave it a light punch, pressing your lips together in a thin smile. He chuckled, resting his elbow on a shelf. “Better?”

“Kind of.” You smiled, crossing your arms. “And I’m not stiff. I’m very good at sex. I just don’t buy into the very toxic business that is the sex industry.”

He bit his lip slightly, looking like he was trying not to laugh. He nodded, grinning at you. “I was teasin.’ Promise. But what do you think?”

You looked around at the colorful silicone sex toys that surrounded the two of you before looking down at the book you were holding to your chest. It wasn’t the worst idea you’d ever heard. And you had thought about buying sex toys before, you just never had. The idea of buying a toy in front of Bo, however, made you embarrassed beyond belief. 

“I don’t know.” You said slowly, picking at a hangnail. “Maybe that can be my plan b?”

“Fair enough.” He shrugged, walking to the porn DVDs. “I’m gonna get one of these and then we can go.”

“Ew, Bo.” You laughed. “You can watch stuff like that for free online.”

“Don’t like it, go outside.” He smirked, looking over the titles.

You rolled your eyes, but you felt yourself smiling. “Fine, I’ll wait outside” You said, heading to the door. The lady behind the register nodded at you, and you gave her a little wave before stepping out into the light. 

Leaning against the wall of the store, you opened up the book, looking over the first page. The words were a little bigger than the average book, and the book was fairly thin. Seeing how short it was made you feel a little better about how long your book was going to have to be. 

Bo walked out, looking over at you. “You actually waited?”

“Well yeah.” You said, pushing away from the building, heading to your car. “I do have manners.”

He snorted. “Every other thing you say is tellin’ me how much you hate it when I talk.”

“That’s not on me that’s on you.” You grinned, looking down at his bag. It looked bulky, like something really big was inside it. “Jesus, how many DVDs did you get?”

“Ah, about that. I didn’t get any.” He tossed the bag to you, and thankfully it was your first real catch of the day. “That’s yours.” With that he started high stepping it to his car, leaving you outside yours.

You looked down into the bag, eyes widening when the eight-inch dildo box glared back at you.

“Bo you are so gross!” You laughed as you yelled, your expression frozen in surprise.

He laughed as he got into his car, revving it up and pulling out before you’d get the chance to try and chase him down. “Your tab is getting pretty expensive!” He called as he drove past you.


	6. Text

The dildo ended up in your closet, still in the bag, unopened. You had so many mixed feelings about that thing it wasn’t even funny. On one hand, yeah that was funny. On the other hand, it must have been expensive. On the other other hand, Bo had no business buying you a sex toy when you two barely knew each other.

Instead of worrying about your brand-new glittery dildo, you instead focused your attention on the book. That was what would actually come in handy in this silly plot. Like Bo said, you didn’t have to be the best writer in the world, you just had to be better than Ned. 

You didn’t actually get around to reading the book for a couple of days. It wasn’t like it was high on your list of things you wanted to do. Besides, you had work, or an outing, or just a quick stop by Target that was always more interesting than trying to read an erotica book written by your ex-boyfriend. 

On the third day you sat on the couch, debating if this would be the first day that you would actually go out on a jog, when your phone blinked alive. Groaning, you grabbed your phone, now too distracted to go out for a jog, when you saw that you had a text from your friend. You unlocked your phone to see a picture of Ned at a restaurant starting you in the face. 

He was in a group of people, which might not have hurt so bad, except there was a girl on his arm. The picture wasn’t the clearest, but you could tell she was smiling, and he was throwing his head back as if he was laughing. They looked like they were having a good time. You couldn’t tell if they were together as a couple or not, but the way your stomach sank made you feel like they were.

It felt as if your entire body was sinking into the floor. You knew you weren’t over him, and you weren’t about to pretend that you were. But seeing that picture of the two of them together, him living happily without you, it felt like the day he broke up with you all over again. 

You sank to the ground beside your couch, staring at your phone. Your friend must have realized she had made a mistake in sending you that picture, because she started sending you a bunch of texts in a row that you didn’t read. Throwing your phone to the side, you stared out the window, letting the sickly, numb feeling overcome you. 

The feeling in your arms left, and shortly after your legs fell asleep. You didn’t want to react this way, you knew it was completely stupid, but you couldn’t help it. It hurt. It hurt like the biggest rejection you had ever experienced, because the one unspoken question that had been burning in your mind since he had dumped you: Why weren’t you good enough for him?

Glancing over at your phone, you saw that the ‘I fucked up’ texts from your friend had stopped. That was fine, you didn’t want to read all of her explanations of how maybe she was just a friend, or that you should just get over him already. 

Rolling over onto your side into the direction of your phone, you picked it up off the ground, unlocking it. Swiping the way the notifications from your friend, you looked at the other notifications on your phone. Push notification, push notification, your hearts have been revived in a phone game, push notification, meme from a different friend, a text from Bo. 

That text made the corner of your lip turn upward slightly, even before you read it. He was quickly becoming your go-to whenever your breakup was involved. Clicking on the text, you forced yourself to sit back up, finally coming back to reality a little bit. The little smile turned into a fake-irritated blow of air when you saw what the text said.

‘Hey, are you still slacking off over there? Come on, revenge plans are supposed to be more fun than this. Get on the dicks already 8====D’

You rubbed your forehead, chuckling halfheartedly. 

‘You don’t seem like an emoji guy.’ You replied, rising from the floor and walking over to the kitchen. 

You’d been sitting in despair for so long you’d gotten dehydrated, though luckily you hadn’t been crying. It felt like you had cotton in your mouth. You weren’t even sure how long you had been sitting on the floor in complete and utter misery. 

As you were getting a glass of water, you phone dinged again, letting you know that Bo had replied. You looked at the text as you downed an entire glass of water in one breath.

‘I figured it would annoy you.’ 

Instinctively, you tried not to laugh so as to not give him the satisfaction of knowing that on a strange, hostile level you found him charming. When you realized that there was no way Bo could ever find out that you were amused, you let out another tired chuckle, rubbing your forehead more. 

A headache was beginning to form, and you didn’t know if it was from dehydration or from stress. You drank another glass of water, slamming the glass down like a shot when you were done.

You walked through the living room, picking up the book you had been avoiding reading, and made a beeline for the bathroom. You have the tub a quick cleaning spritz of water before filling the tub, adding every fun bath thing you owned. A fizzy ball, fancy oils, and salts. 

The bathroom slowly filled up with steam as the tub filled, and you stripped out of your clothes and stepped inside, making sure to keep your hands out of the water. The book sat on the floor by the tub, and you picked it up, opening it to the first page and finally starting in on it.


	7. Unpleasant Surprise

The book slammed against the wall, a few of the pages fluttering on impact before falling to the ground. It was so thin that the impact didn’t give you the rush you were hoping for, but you refused to touch the book again. 

During your bath, you’d only read about halfway through, but it had been enough for you to get the information you needed. It was information that you didn’t even know that you needed, it was information that you didn’t know existed in physical form. At first, you didn’t believe it when you read it, you thought that maybe you had read it wrong, or you were reading too much into it, but as you continued in the story it became clear as day.

The main character was just some average guy, as main characters usually were so that people could project onto them. He had a girlfriend who worked at a school as a receptionist, and – as sex books usually operate – there was a sexy young teacher who worked there that the main guy ended up having an affair with. It didn’t grip you too much because the idea of having an affair made your stomach ache with second hand guilt. It was when the book finally went into a description of the girlfriend.

To put it politely, the book described her as plain and boring. Not just in general but in bed as well. That didn’t bother you too much, until it described what she looked like. And with every passing word, you realized with increasing anger that the girlfriend was written to look exactly like you.

Needless to say, your bath was cut short when you flew out of it, throwing the book at the nearest wall. Water and bubbled pooled around your feet as you stood there in the middle of your bathroom, water soaking into your bathmat as tears filled your eyes. 

That couldn’t be a coincidence. There was no way in hell Ned could describe the girlfriend in this stupid book and not know full well what he was doing. Boring? In both personality and in bed? Is that what he thought about you? Was this whole book his way of fantasizing about cheating on you?

You walked over to the book, ignoring how much water you were getting on the floor when you picked it up again, flipping to the front page, looking for the date of publication. Two years ago. You two were dating when he wrote this.

“God damn it!” You threw the book behind you, not bothering to look back when you heard the book splash into the water. Storming out into the living room, you grabbed your phone, dialing Bo before you even thought about what it was you were going to say.

The phone clicked on, and Bo’s voice came from the other end. “You’re really becoming a frequent caller, ain’t ya?”

“Violence!” You shouted into the phone, ignoring his grunt and the sound of him pulling the phone away from his ear. “Violence violence violence!”

“Turn it down a few notches, okay?” Bo snapped, putting the phone back to his ear. “Now what is it?”

“Violence! I changed my mind, I want to do the violent option! I want to bury his ass so far in the ground the only thing that ever finds him again is earthworms!” You continued shouting into the phone, storming around your apartment fully nude, leaving soapy wet footsteps in your wake. “I don’t know you very well but you seem like the kind of guy who would kill for funsies, so help me kill him!”

“Slow down, slow down.” Bo rolled his eyes on his end, pausing the show he was watching. “You’re speaking my language with the violence talk, but what gave you the change of heart?”

“He used his book to call me plain looking and bad in bed!” You snapped, sitting down on your couch, clutching your free hand into a fist. “I want him dead!”

Bo chuckled, putting his hand over his mouth so that you couldn’t hear it on your end. He couldn’t tell if this entire experience was sad or funny, but he was leaning towards funny. He couldn’t imagine reading about himself in a book written by an ex. But, he seriously doubted that an ex would call him bad in bed. A dick maybe, but not bad in bed.

“Well, I usually only kill people for shits and giggles.” Bo joked, turning off the TV. “But for you I’d make an exception.”

“I want him to die a thousand times over, that asshole!” You slammed your fist down on your couch, your eyes burning from angry tears. “If I was so boring in bed why couldn’t he just talk to me like a normal person instead of writing a one-hundred-page sex fantasy of cheating on me?”

“Couldn’t tell ya.” Bo rose, picking up his cap and putting it on. “Sounds like you need a break. Let’s get a drink.”

You grit your teeth, still seething too much to think straight. “I don’t know any places.”

“I’ll pick the place, you just show up.” He said. “I can invite a girl friend of mine if you want someone to talk to.”

“Don’t volunteer some poor stranger to be my therapist!” You frowned, walking to the bathroom and throwing a towel around your shoulders. “Send me the place and I’ll show up.”

“Touchy touchy.” Bo put the phone on speaker, looking up the bar in his phone so he could send you the address. “Sent it. Try to calm yourself before showing up.”

“I’m as calm as one can be in this situation!” You stormed over to your closet, pulling out a shirt and pants at random. “Like you wouldn’t be mad if someone wrote about cheating on a character that looks and acts exactly like you!”

He smirked to himself, walking out the door. “Better show up when I do or I’m buying you the strongest drink they got.”

“You’re evil!” You held the phone against your shoulder, hopping in place trying to slip into your pants. “After you kill Ned I’m killing you!”

“I never said I’d kill for you.” Bo said, stepping out the door. “See you in a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You tossed your phone onto the bed, getting your clothes on, realizing your bangs were sticking to your face, still wet from the bath. Sighing, you grabbed a clippy and pulled them back, pinning them into a little bump at the front of your head. Cutting these really had been a mistake. 

Grabbing your purse, you started walking to the door before remembering that you currently had a book disintegrating in the bathtub. You glanced into the bathroom before shaking your head and leaving altogether. Maybe by the time you get back the paper would have dissipated completely and you could flush the damn thing.


	8. Deal

“I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.” You mumbled to yourself, hitting your head on the bar top with every repetition, rattling your glass.

Bo leaned back in his chair, beer in hand, casually watching you.

“Bad in bed, I’m not bad in bed, I am a fucking delight. What does he want, me to be one of those girls who needs to get choked half to death with one foot in a bear trap before she can cum?” You kept hitting your head on the tabletop, earning a sideways glance from the strangers sitting on the other side of you. “I hate him, I hate him, I hate his stupid guts.”

“Not to interrupt a productive dialogue, but I think you’re shakin’ up everyone’s drinks.” Bo said, opening his hand in a half-wave to the strangers who were staring at your breakdown. “Why don’t ya lift your head and we’ll talk like regular folk.”

“I hate you. This is all your fault.” You turned your head, shooting him a glare.

He snorted, taking another drink. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood or I’d take offense to that. How’s this my fault?”

You pointed an accusatory finger at him, still not lifting your head. “If you hadn’t suggested I write porn, we wouldn’t have bought his book, and I would never have read that a character who looks and acts exactly like me is boring in bed.”

“Well are you?” He asked.

“I am not!” You shot up, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “I’m, I don’t know, I’m normal!”

He raised his hands, biting back a smirk. “Okay, nothin’ wrong with normal.”

“Damn straight there isn’t!” You hit your head on the table again, letting out a hefty sigh. “This was so stupid. I give up.”

Bo awkwardly patted your back a couple times in his version of consoling. “There there.”

You lifted your head slightly, looking at your margarita. You’d neglected it to the point that it had begun to melt, so now the liquid and ice had separated. You hadn’t even had one sip yet. Condensation dripped down the sides of it, the sugar on rim beginning to drip down with it. The straw was hanging dangerously low over the side.

Sighing, you sat up, taking the straw and stirring the drink slowly, watching as the ice and liquid came together once more. You rested your head on the palm of your hand, staring down the greenish concoction.

“You seriously want the violence answer?” Bo sat forward, putting his elbows on the bar. “Because I was jokin.’ I don’t do violence anymore.”

“Anymore?” You chuckled, glancing over at him. “Are you an ex hitman or something?”

He blew air out his nose, shaking his head slightly. “I was a bad kid. Bad teenager. Worked hard to be less bad.”

“I’m sorry.” You said, lightly nudging your shoulder against his. “Anything you want to talk about? We’ve spent plenty of time on me.”

“Eh, it was nothin.’” He shrugged you off. “Just learned to be better for my foster parents. They took me in after a couple of deaths in the family, and I made their lives hell for a long time. They never gave up though.”

You nodded slightly, frowning slightly in sympathy. “Well, it seems like you’re…not bad now.”

Bo chuckled, looking over at you. “I’m still shitty, just less violent about it.”

“Jee, love hearing that from nearly a perfect stranger.” You joked, giving him a half smile. “Should I be worried?”

“Nah, you’re fine.” He smiled back. 

You lifted up your margarita glass, tapping it against his beer. Bo rolled his eyes at the gesture, but he offered you a smile before tapping his beer back against your glass. The both of you sipped your drinks, falling into silence. 

All around you the bar was alive with chatter. There was music playing, the TVs above the bar showing some sports game, and of course the sounds of people laughing and talking with each other. It was a nice change from your quiet apartment, where you had been moping around alone since the breakup. 

“I’m not giving up.” You finally broke the silence, making Bo glance over at you. “I wasn’t serious about it before, but I am now. At the very least, it’ll give me something to do, right?”

“’S true.” He said, signaling to the bartender to get him another beer. 

You sipped your drink some more, thinking back on the book that was currently disintegrating in your bathtub. You inwardly groaned at the realization you’d have to clean that up yourself once you got back. 

“Bo, what’s your sex life like?” You asked, glancing over at him.

He chuckled as he grabbed his new beer. “At least buy me dinner first.”

“I’m serious.” You flicked your straw, watching it twirl around the glass. “I’ve been putting off writing it because it embarrasses me. Maybe I am a little boring, I don’t know. I’ve only ever had sex with people I was in relationships with, and only in private areas like houses and bedrooms, and I’ve never really tried much of anything kink wise.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, taking a swig of his drink. “That sounds pretty standard. By some standards.”

“You know what I’m asking.” You snapped.

“No, I’m not sure I do.” He leaned back, putting his hand on the back of your chair. When you glared at him he chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “I’ve done plenty. With plenty of people.”

You thought about his statement, tapping your fingers on the bar. Something was forming in your mind, and it was a thought you never would have guessed would come from you.

“Will you help me write the book?” You said slowly, looking into your drink. “I think it’s clear I need help writing the sex scenes, so, maybe you could guide me in the right direction.”

You heard him chuckle. “And how would I go about doing that?”

“By helping me get more experience.” You mumbled, taking a sip of your drink.

Bo raised his eyebrow slightly behind your back, a slight smirk on his face. “I’m sure we could work something out.”

“Gradually.” You took another sip, your face heating up at the implications of what you had just asked for.

“Whatever you want.” He held up his bottle, twirling it around in his fingers. “I get the feeling you’re not the type to just ask for sex right off the bat.”

You put your face in your hand, feeling the heat of your cheeks. “I hate to agree with you, but you guessed right.”

He chuckled. “Well, I’m interested to see how I’m supposed to help ya, then.”

“I guess we’ll both have to wait and see.” You laughed nervously, glancing over at him. “And if I never ask for anything, just pretend this conversation never happened, deal?”

Bo laughed, waving down the bartender once again. “Deal.”


	9. The Present I Got You

Cleaning the bathtub when you got home had turned out to be a bigger pain than you thought it would be. And grosser. You should have thought about your distain for touching gross wet things before throwing the book inside, but it was too late for that anyway. 

After cleaning wet paper out of your tub and throwing away the destroyed cover, you plopped down in front of your laptop, your passion ignited after you conversation with Bo. You only had about six pages in total, and you could admit to yourself they weren’t great. They were uninspired and obviously forced, but you were determined to fix that.

You opened up a fresh document, staring down the fresh page. Putting your fingers on the keys, you lightly tapped on them just to hear the click of the pads of your fingers on plastic. This was going to be embarrassing, you knew it. But you and Bo had formed a plan.

Picking up your phone, you called Bo. Your heart raced as you listened to the beeping as you waited for him to pick up. It clicked when he answered.

“Hello?” He grumbled, sounding almost asleep.

“I called.” You said lamely. “Like I was supposed to.”

Bo chuckled, rubbing his forehead and glancing at the clock next to his bed. “You know it’s two in the mornin’ right? I got work tomorrow.” He’d almost fallen asleep waiting to hear from you, spread out like a starfish on his bed, fully clothed. 

“I was supposed to call you when I was in front of my computer.” You rested your elbows on the table, silently enjoying how gravely his voice sounded when he was tired. 

“Yeah, you were supposed to get there when you got home.” He ran his hand through his hair, sitting up and resting his head on the back of the headboard. “You left the bar like two hours ago.”

“Glad to know you were concerned.” You said sarcastically. “I was busy cleaning the bathtub.”

He made a noise that was somewhere between a hum and a groan. “Good to know I’ll be dyin’ tomorrow so you could clean your bathtub. Did you clean the other thing?”

You paused, looking towards your bathroom, where the dildo Bo had bought for you the other day was drying. “I did.”

“Good, good.” He purred, finally sounding more awake. “Now, I want you to take it, and I want you to stick it to your chair.”

Though you knew this was where things were heading, you still flinched in embarrassment. “Bo.”

“It’s got a suction on the bottom, I know it can.” He said sternly.

You sighed, standing and shuffling to the bathroom, grabbing it off the towel you had laid it on. “Why did you have to get the one that looks like it’s full of confetti?”

“I saw you lookin’ at it.” He teased as you put it on your chair, the suction sound obvious to him even over the phone. “That’s a good girl.”

Your face flushed and you scowled, though you knew he couldn’t see it. “Bo, I swear to god.”

“If you don’t wanna do this I’m not gonna make ya.” Bo glanced over at the clock. “I could be in a nice, buzzed sleep right now instead.”

You thought about it for a second, looking between the dildo that was sitting proudly in your chair and the blank document on your laptop. “No, I want to. I’m just embarrassed. I’m sorry.”

“Ah, ‘s fine.” Bo yawned. “Do you have any lube?”

“No.” You said.

He clicked his tongue. “Course you don’t.”

“Oh, wait.” You went back into the bathroom, picking up the box. “I think it came with a little packet of something.” You fished in the box, finding a tiny little packet. Pulling it out, you read the label. Lube from the same company. “It came with a little free sample.”

“Convenient.” Bo chuckled. “Now, I want you to put it on the present I got ya.”

Fighting down the urge to lash out in embarrassment again, you went back to your desk and put the phone on speaker. Opening up the packet, you squirted it onto the tip of the dildo, carefully rubbing it around the tip and the length of it. “Okay, I did it.”

“For the sake of your delicate little sensibilities, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you can guess what I want ya to do next.” Bo closed his eyes, pressing his lips to keep from laughing. He knew you’d take it the wrong way if he did. It was just that this was one of the stranger sexual experiences he had ever had himself. 

You were silent as you slipped out of your pants, moving so that you were hovering over the tip. You lowered yourself slightly, aligning it with yourself. It was colder than you anticipated it would be, but you guessed that made sense, seeing as it was an inanimate object. Silently breathing out, you lowered yourself onto it, biting the inside of your cheek as it stretched you out. Of course Bo had chosen one that was freaking huge. 

You lowered down in increments, waiting until you were ready each time until you had taken the entire thing. Thankfully, Bo had stayed silent, and you had managed for the most part to not make any embarrassing sounds either. 

“Okay.” You said, hating how your voice sounded weak.

“Alright.” He said, the usual sarcastic edge in his voice gone. “Good. Now, just start writing a sex scene, don’t worry about the story.”

“But without the story, how am I supposed to-?” You cleared your throat, trying to make yourself sound normal despite the eight-inch dildo buried in your pussy. “How am I supposed to write it without any context?”

“Well, if you have to have a reason to have sex, start writing about the best sex you’ve ever had.” Bo put his phone on speaker, setting it on the table he kept next to his bed. His eyes were burning, he was so tired. He scooted down until he could lay his head on his pillow, resting his hands behind his head. “Just write what happened.”

“Okay.” You swallowed, trying to think of the best sex you’d ever had. It wasn’t like you’d ever taken all your experiences and ranked them best to worst. “Okay.” You said again, starting to write about the time you and your ex had sex after a holiday party. You’d felt beautiful because you were wearing a fancy dress, and the Christmas lights in the apartment had reflected off of both your skin, making it look like both of you were made up of a million different colors. 

Slowly, beginning to type, you smiled at what was now a bittersweet memory. That had been a really nice night. You were finally distracted from your nostalgia when you shifted in your seat, the electric shock running through your body reminding you of the situation that you were in. 

“Shouldn’t I be moving, or something?” You breathed.

Bo shook himself awake, the sound of your typing nearly lulling him to sleep. “Only if you wanna. Some people are real into cockwarming.”

“Cock warming?” You asked, still only typing the introduction to the scene and not the sex just yet.

“Yeah, just sittin’ on someone’s cock not movin’.” Bo turned so he was facing his phone, blinking slowly. “It’s erotic.”

“That sounds boring to me.” You said, so focused on the task at hand that it was almost easy to forget about the dildo. “How does that do anything?”

“Different strokes, I guess.” Bo chuckled, smiling to himself. “Alright then, start movin’ a little.”

Nodding to yourself, you started slowly rolling your hips, biting back a squeak. “This might just be distracting, you know.” You tried to laugh, but it came out more as just a breath. 

“It’s supp’osed to be inspirational.” He teased.

You laughed again, his accent getting thicker the more tired he got. As you moved, the story slowly turned from a sweet lovemaking session to something a little more intense. The more you moved, the more tension formed in your stomach, the more your body wanted. As you body started to crave more, so did your mind.

“Wh-what do you usually say during sex, Bo?” You hadn’t noticed how much noise you’d been making until you spoke up again, the question coming out as more of a pleading whine But you wanted to hear his voice more. 

Bo paused, the desperation in your voice not lost on him. “Whatever they like to hear.”

Bucking your hips more, you noticed all the spelling mistakes you were making, but you’d fix them later. You wanted more. “Tell me some of it?”

He laid back on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling as he started unzipping his pants. “What kind of thing you wanna hear?”

“I-I don’t know.” You paused from writing, resting your forehead on the table for a minute, your hips still rolling. 

On his end he could hear the squeak of the chair as you moved, hear the sudden stop in your writing. He would hear the moans and whimpers you were at first trying so hard to not let him hear. He pulled himself out of his pants, stroking his cock lazily as he pictured what you must look like right now. He picked up his phone with his free hand, taking it off speaker and putting it to his ear.

“Tell me how fucking wet you are.” He growled into the phone.

Your eyes snapped open, what would have been embarrassment but was now excitement coursing through your body. Straightening up, you started typing again. “Very. I’m very wet.” You whispered.

“Good girl.” He smirked to himself, moving his hand harder. “Tell me how you like the present I got ya.”

“I do like it.” You basically repeated his words back to him, already spending too much energy between writing and moving to think of much else to say. “It feels good.”

He chuckled; the sound making you shiver. “My baby girl is taking care of herself with the present I bought ‘er; makes me wish I could see it.”

Instinctively your hand reached for the phone, the need for him to see you momentarily overwhelming. You stopped as your fingers brushed your phone, coming back to yourself.

“You don’t get to see.” You went back to writing, feeling rebellious for not giving him what he wanted – even though the reasonable side of you told you he was all talk.

“That’s right, I don’t.” He smirked, his body twitching a bit as he stroked himself. “But I can hear you, baby girl. I can hear how hard you’re goin’. I can hear your wet little pussy and every noise that come out of the pretty little mouth of yours.”

A whine escaped you before you could stop it, your hips moving harder. You weren’t even sure how long you’d been going at this anymore. The pressure in your abdomen felt like it was about to burst, you just needed a little more.

“Bo!” You gasped, abandoning your task of writing to rub your clit, your legs growing sore from all the bouncing you’d been doing.

“Cum, I know you wanna. I can hear it. Cum for me like a good girl.” He grunted.

It was either the words or the breathiness to his voice that finally made it break. Your body shook, loud, horny sounds escaping your lips as you humped into your hand, cumming on the dildo. Your body continued to move for a minute, Bo drinking in the whines and gasps on the other end.

You rested your head on the table, not realizing how sweaty you were until you pulled away. “Bo? Are you still there?”

There was silence for a second. 

“Yeah, I’m still here.” He said.

“I’m - I think I’m done for tonight.” You glanced at the word document that was full of spelling errors, and probably had words missing. But it was four pages of just sex. “I’m going to clean up.”

“A’ight.” He said. “Talk to ya later.” He hung up without waiting for a reply, which hurt your feelings a little bit. 

You slid off the dildo, eyes widening and a surprised laugh escaping you when you saw how wet the chair had gotten. You forgot about Bo’s abrupt hang up as you started cleaning everything up.

Meanwhile, Bo bucked his hips into his hand, grunting out obscenities as he came, his entire body convulsing, the memory of your voice putting him over the edge. He grit his teeth has he came into his hand.

It took him little while to compose himself. When he did he sat up, grabbing a sock off the floor and cleaning himself off. 

You were pretty cute when you were horny, he had to admit that.


	10. Grounded

The next day you looked over the document, and you got about what you expected. Lots of spelling errors, whole words and even chunks of sentences either missing or badly worded. It was a little embarrassing to look at, but the content itself wasn’t that bad. It was actually more inspired than the entire first draft you’d written. 

You worked on editing at work, keeping several other tabs open in case anyone walked past your desk so they wouldn’t see the sin smeared across your screen. Editing was tedious, and you were glad you were at work so that when you got bored you had other things to do, because you must have taken about twenty different breaks during the editing process, and there were only four pages. 

Every time you thought about the night before, you felt your face heat up and your mouth spread into some sort of expression – which expression you weren’t exactly sure. You weren’t sure how you could ever face Bo again after that. Then again, it was embarrassing for you, but that was probably just a normal interaction for him. He struck you as the sex crazed type. 

At around one your phone lit up, and your heart annoyingly skipped a beat before you read the caller ID and saw that it wasn’t Bo. Then your chest ached in a way that was equally as annoying as the skipping. 

The friend of yours who had sent you the picture of Ned the night before had started up on her ‘I fucked up’ texts again. You were finally in the state of mind where you could find the strength to reply without immediately weeping or cussing her out.

‘Look I’m just worried about you, you’ve been acting really crazy since the breakup. I mean, no one has really seen much of you, you cut bangs in your bathroom, are you just sitting at home sulking?’ Was what she sent.

That rubbed you the wrong way, seeing as breakups are hard for anyone, and yeah, maybe you were acting a little out of the ordinary. But since the breakup, you’d lost pretty much every mutual friend you shared with Ned, you’d lost the security that being with someone for so long gave you, and you lost an entire way of living. And the only way your friends had reached out was by doing shitty things like this – sending you pictures of your ex, already moved on.

Picking up your phone, you stared at the texts she’d sent, feeling an eerie calm wash over you. 

‘I’m allowed to be a little crazy right now. What I need is a friend.’

You exited out of her texts, pulling up Bo’s. Smiling at the last texts he’d sent you, you began to type up a text to him. ‘You doing anything Friday?’ 

As you waited for a reply you checked your work emails, glancing at your phone to see that your friend had replied, but you didn’t bother reaching for you phone. Instead you pulled up your story, continuing the scene from where you left off, the words coming easily to you. 

If someone looked in on you, you would have looked like a very diligent worker. Your eyes were trained on the screen, your fingers flying over the keyboard with no hesitation. Determination ignited under the calmness. 

Your phone blinked, but you paid it no mind. You continued writing until your eyes finally flicked over to the clock, and you realized it was ten minutes until you were free. Saving your work, you checked your emails again before logging out of the computer, picking up your phone.

‘Want a repeat of last night?’ Bo sent back.

Chuckling, you actually considered it for a moment. It was fun, even though you were still a little embarrassed. You brushed off the thought, texting back. ‘Maybe. Unless you have more interesting plans.’

Bo wiped grease off his forehead and onto his equally as dirty wrist, finishing up his last car of the day. His phone dinged on the counter, grabbing his attention. Grabbing what passed for a clean microfiber, he wiped off his face and hands, unsuccessfully cleaning himself up. 

Walking to his phone, he saw you finally replied, an hour late. He smirked to himself, reading your message. Well, an hour ago he had no plans for Friday. But a phone call from an old friend had changed that. 

‘Got plans you’re welcome to tag along to.’ He sent, sobering up at the thought. He sent a second one, hating himself for double texting like he so often teased other people for doing. ‘My brother is coming into town, so we’re throwing him a get together. Show him city life.’

Bo sat back in his chair, wiping off his face with the microfiber again. Just the thought of Friday rolling around made his stomach churn in an ugly way. He hadn’t seen his brother in years. Lord, Bo had tried to get the family back together, way back in the day, but it turned out that he was the only one who had wanted that. 

He chuckled in frustration, getting the urge to throw something and throw it hard enough to hurt someone. A wrench he had left on his desk was suddenly mighty tempting. Tempting to pick up and throw it right at the car he just got done fixing. Break the windows of it and hear the satisfying crash of glass. 

His hand snaked towards the wrench, this feeling of anxiety fueling his anger. His fingers had just barely grazed the cold metal when his phone went off, drawing him back to the present.

Bo backed away from the desk, growling out a sigh. He tried to remember what his foster mama had told him, and what his therapist had told him when he was a teen. To breathe. To look at something in the room, to name things he could hear and feel and taste. That had been for when he thought about his childhood and couldn’t stop, but it seemed to work when he was angry too.

Well, the smell of oil was enough to ground the average person. Could hear some machinery going off in another part of the garage, one of his co-workers doing something or other. Feel the muck on his face and skin, and the scratchy microfiber bunched up in his hand. And the anxiety ebbed, and so did the anger. 

Heading back to the counter and ignoring the wrench he had wanted to chuck only a couple minutes prior, he picked up his phone, seeing that you had agreed to whatever plans were going on Friday. Well, that made him a little happy. You were fun, and he could tease you a little during the party.

Instead of replying to you, Bo clicked on his contact labeled ‘Mama’ and brought the phone to his ear, listening to it ring as he walked around the garage, picking up the things he was going to take home that night.

“Hello?” She said when she picked up.

“Hey, mama.” Bo smiled when he heard his foster mother – Sally’s – voice. “You’re gonna be so proud of me.” He said, half-joking.

“I’m always proud of you.” She said on the other line, and of course Bo knew she would say that, because that’s what she always said. “How are you, Bo?”

Bo shoved his keys into his pocket, heading outside, into the cool night, breathing in the smell of fresh air. “I didn’t throw something at work.”

She laughed, and Bo heard the sound of the TV being turned down so she could hear him better. “I am proud of you!”

He chuckled, walking towards his place, putting his cap on. “Also met a girl.”

“A special one?” She replied.

“A fun one, at least.” Bo said, kicking a small rock down the road. “And, my brother’s gonna be in town on Friday, so.” He trailed off, still not sure how he felt about it. 

Bo could just picture her nodding to herself on the other end of the line, her face solemn like it always was whenever his life before his parents died was brought up. “That’s why you wanted to throw something, then?”

“Yes ma’am.” He chuckled. “Gonna be a hell of a weekend.”

“Well, if you ever need a break you can always visit me and Forrest, you know.” His foster father, Forrest, was a good man, but Bo had always been a little more reserved with him than he had been with Sally. “I’m proud of you, Bo.”

“I know, mama.” Bo unlocked the door to his apartment, stepping inside. “I just got home, but I’ll talk to ya later, alright?”

“Bye-bye, Bo.” Sally replied before Bo hung up. 

Bo slumped into his couch, looking around his apartment. He’d have to clean up before Friday, that was for damn sure. His place was a mess.


	11. Panties

Work turned out to be a great place to work on your book. When it was slow, you had a good excuse to look busy. Writing around the sex scene proved to be a lot easier than trying to start the story from the beginning, because you’d come up with things to happen as you went.

Friday rolled around, and once work was over you went home, stripping out of your work clothes. Bo had told you that him and some friends were going to show his brother city life. That didn’t give you too much of a hint as to what you should wear. If that meant walking around you’d need comfy shoes, if that meant clubbing that would mean something cute, and if it was just sitting around someone’s apartment you’d want comfy pants. 

Picking up your phone, you dialed Bo’s number. It was almost funny when you thought about it, you’d never made this many phone calls in your life but now calling Bo was second nature. You plopped down on your bed in just your underwear, listening to the phone ring.

“Yeah?” He said when he picked up. Something about how he said it instantly made you feel like he was irritated, but you pushed that thought out of your mind. There was no way you’d be able to tell from just one word. Besides, you didn’t know the guy well enough to act like you could tell his mood.

“What’s on the itinerary for tonight? I’m trying to pick out an outfit.” You said.

Bo grumbled something under his breath, confirming even more that he was in a bad mood. “Wear whatever, it doesn’t matter.”

“It kind of does.” You tried to justify yourself. “Just tell me what the plan is and I’ll be out of your hair.”

He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair. He knew he was acting out because he was nervous, he’d been a dick to his co-workers all day to the point of them called him an ass. He didn’t want to piss you off too. He needed someone on his side tonight. 

“We’re going to a club, but my brother is pretty country so we probably won’t stay very long. He wanted to see what a club was like. After that we’re gonna just sit around my place and drink.” Bo said slowly, willing his irritation not to bleed into his voice. 

“Okay, I can work with that.” You started pulling the phone away from your ear. “See you soon.”

“Wait!” You heard him call over the line. You put the phone back to your ear, listening as he started talking again. “Wear a dress. One of those little ones that girls wear to clubs.”

“Oh yeah? Why should I do that?” You smiled to yourself, hearing more of the Bo you knew now that he was bossing you around.

“’Cuz I told ya.” Bo smirked to himself, a wicked little plan at stress relief forming in his mind. “And you’re not gonna wear any underwear with it, either.”

“No underwear with a tiny dress, are you insane?” You joked. 

Bo smirked to himself. “If you wear any, they’re gettin’ ripped off.”

A wave of arousal coursed through you at the threat. The surprise you felt was almost stronger than the arousal. Usually if a guy talked to you like that, you’d be pissed. But something about it being Bo, about your arrangement together, it made you feel hot. 

You rested your head back on the bed, trying to ignore how your body heated with anticipation. “You better not do anything that would embarrass me, Bo.” You said defiantly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Bo purred. “Unless you wear panties.”

“You’re not the boss of me.” You hung up, smirking that you’d gotten the last word. 

Bo heard the click of you hanging up and laughed to himself, shoving his phone in his pocket as he looked over his freshly cleaned apartment. Usually he had dirty clothes scattered everywhere, but there was going to be a small gaggle of people in his place, so he did the responsible thing and cleaned up.

‘It’s gonna be okay, tonight’s gonna be fine.’ He lied to himself, glancing at the clock above the stovetop. It wasn’t like it was going to be the first time in a few years he’d seen his blood family. It was going to be like any other night. 

A knocking came from the door, turning Bo’s blood cold. He shook out his hands before grabbing a pillow off the couch, screeching “Fuck!” into it as loud as he could before dropping it. Shaking his head, he walked to the door, opening it up to see Carly.

“Jesus, it’s just you.” He spat, turning away from the door.

“Well fuck you too.” Carly stepped inside, tossing her bag in a chair. “Did you think I was going to be someone else?”

“Obviously.” Bo walked to the fridge, grabbing a beer. “Jesus, my nerves are shot.”

“Well, it is a pretty big deal.” Carly said, snatching the beer from his hand and taking a swig. She laughed when Bo cursed at her as he grabbed another one. “You nervous?”

“Again, obviously. I thought college was supposed to make people smart?” He took several large gulps, groaning when he pulled the can away from his lips. “Fuck, this was a shitty idea.”

Carly opened her mouth to either retort back or comfort him, she wasn’t sure yet, when there was another knock on the door. 

Both of them froze for a moment. Bo was the first to move, slowly walking to the door and opening it up to see his brother standing on the other side.

Lester grinned, lifting up his hand in a wave. “Hey, Bo.”

“Hey, Lester.”


	12. I Know You

Bo leaned against the wall while Lester sat on the counter, Carly sitting on the floor of the kitchen. Hellos had already been exchanged, and the awkward ‘how’ve you been’s and ‘what do you do for work’s already passed by. Lester explained he was a little more cleaned up than usual, he’d been adopted by a family of farmers and fit right in.

“Usually, I’m covered in dirt and shit and hay.” He’d said, to which Bo had replied: “So not much’s changed, huh?”

Lester clapped his hands once before slapping them on his knees, looking over at Bo. “Well who else is part of my welcomin’ committee?” He asked.

Bo forced a half smile, his nerves not any better even after Lester had finally shown up. They probably wouldn’t be any better until this party had come and gone, if it came and went without a hitch. “Carly’s dumb blonde friend, and another girl.”

“Paige isn’t dumb.” Carly flipped off Bo. “Besides, she got the same degree as me, mister mechanic.”

“Mechanic-in’ is serious business, Carly.” Bo flipped her off right back. “I’ll call her smart when she can change a tire.”

Their normal half-fighting interaction was interrupted by Lester’s cackle. “You really haven’t changed at all, Bo.” He grinned at his older brother. “Still a hard time makin’ friends?”

“What makes you think I can’t make friends?” Bo said defensively, no matter how right the assumption had been.

“Well, the only people comin’ are girls, and it sounds like they’re both really friends with Carly.” Lester’s grin widened. “Still can’t talk to a guy without punchin’ his lights out?”

Bo held up a finger to object before letting his hand fall back to his side, realizing he had no ground to stand on. He crossed his arms, a sour look growing on his face. “I don’t fight no more and (y/n) is my friend.”

Lester was gearing up to press further, when Bo was saved by a knock on the door. Bo pushed off the wall, walking to the door and opening it to see two women on the other side. Paige and you. You waved at him awkwardly, your other hand self-consciously pulling down your dress. Paige smiled cheekily at Bo, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and giving you a light shake. 

“Here we are.” Paige said before brushing past Bo into the apartment.

“You two know each other?” Bo asked as you walked in behind Paige.

“No, but I saw her walking up to your door and asked if this was the right place.” You pulled down your dress again, looking around to the apartment of people you didn’t know. You raised your hand in another half-wave. “Hi.”

Carly’s mouth dropped open exaggeratedly as she pointed at you, her finger waving around your bangs. “You’re the girl Bo called me to help insult that time!”

You dropped your mouth open, pointing back at her with a faux frown on your face. “You’re the lady Bo called to insult my bangs!”

“Oh my god!” Carly laughed and jumped up from the floor, walking over to Bo and punching him on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were inviting over the nervous breakdown girl?”

“Is that how you describe me to people?” You glared at Bo, who laughed.

“Slow down, slow down, all of ya.” Bo grinned. “Carly, I figured you’d put two and two together. As for you, no, that’s not how I describe you. But you were having a nervous breakdown when we met.”

“I wasn’t having a nervous breakdown, I was crying on a park bench, that’s a far cry from a like, legit breakdown.” You realized as the words passed from your lips that that was a flimsy excuse at best. “Anyway there’s no way you could recognize me; we’ve never met before.”

Carly shrugged and pointed to your forehead. “You have bangs, you know Bo, I put two and two together.”

You turned to Bo. “Do you call her to insult everyone with my hairstyle or am I just lucky?”

Bo opened his mouth to reply, when Lester started laughing, grabbing everyone’s attention. He jumped off the counter, grinning. “This sounds like a story I gotta hear.”

You looked over at him, noticing him for the first time. “Oh, you’re - are you Bo’s brother?” You asked.

“That I am.” His toothy grin reminded you of a cartoon character as he walked over, holding out his hand. “Lester Boone, formerly known as Lester Sinclair.”

Smiling, relieved that everyone’s opinions of your bathroom-cut bangs were over with, you took his hand and shook it. “I’m (y/n), I guess you could call me Bo’s friend if you’re being generous.” The two of you chuckled at Bo’s faux offended ‘hey’ “Can I ask what you mean by formerly Lester Sincalir?”

“Ah, I got adopted, took their last name.” Lester explained, turning to Bo. “This everyone?”

“It’s everyone.” Bo confirmed. “Let’s go out so we can overpay for drinks already.”

“I like the sound of that.” Paige took Carly’s arm in hers and hurried out of the apartment, and you trailed behind them, unsure of your next destination. Lester and Bo were left in the apartment for only a moment, and they both realized it was probably going to be the only solitary moment they’d get all night.

“’S good to see you.” Lester said.

Bo just nodded in reply. “Yeah. Let’s not keep the ladies waitin’.”


	13. If You'd Do It

It was pretty much like any club, not that you spent enough time in clubs to draw a comparison in the first place. Your small group had come in, fought for a table, and now you and Bo were sitting alone while his brother and the girls were dancing. 

Lester looked out of place, with his small frame and clothes that were far too country for the crowd. Luckily for him, Paige and Carly were staying close to his side, and it looked like they were trying to talk to him over the music. You watched in awe as they broke away from Lester for only a moment and came back with three drinks you had the feeling they didn’t have to pay for. Paige handed Lester one, and the three of them stood around dancing and drinking.

“Shouldn’t we go dance with them?” You yelled over the music to Bo. “Don’t you want to hang out with your brother?”

“I was never one for dancin’.” Bo leaned in close to you in order to be heard, putting his arm on the seat behind you. “We probably won’t stay long; Lester ain’t used to loud places like this anyway.”

“Still.” You leaned in close to him, still looking out at the three others in your party. “I thought this was so you could connect with him.”

“I’ll connect later.” Bo snapped before taking a deep breath, trying to keep himself from getting upset. “Besides, I’m having fun guarding the table with you.”

You nodded, deciding there was no point in trying to get into a deep conversation with Bo when the two of you could barely hear each other. Without thinking, you rested your head on his shoulder. Bo glanced down at you in surprise, and you realized that the two of you probably didn’t have the resting-your-head-on-his-shoulder kind of relationship. 

You pulled back, covering the awkwardness by waving down a lady holding a tray of drinks. She held up a finger indicating to give her a moment before she walked around to the other tables, handing out their drinks before circling back to you and Bo.

“Can I help you?” She asked. 

“I’ll have a margarita please, and whatever he wants.” You cupped your hands around your mouth in a futile attempt to be heard over the thunderous bass of the music. The lady just nodded, used to straining to hear. She glanced over at Bo, who just shrugged and said, “Beer.”

Not waiting to ask what kind, she hurried off, being flagged down by another group.

Bo looked over at you, his eyes trailing down your body. “Did you do what I told you to do?”

“You mean not wear underwear?” You pulled down your dress again, the motion awkward since you were sitting. “Yes, I am currently commando. Also embarrassed as hell.”

He chuckled, flashing the waitress a charming smile as she sat down your drinks. That irked you in a way you couldn’t quite explain. After all, it wasn’t like the two of you were in a real relationship, just a tolerance for each other that had sex sprinkled in. 

Reaching past him, you slid your drink closer to you, taking a sip. “So, what was the reason for commando?”

“You can’t guess?” Bo smirked, looking over at you. 

“I can, and I’m already embarrassed.” You admitted. Not wearing underwear, being in public, it wasn’t that hard to figure that Bo had something exhibition-ish in mind for you. The thought seemed hot in theory, in the safety of your apartment. Here, it seemed mortifying. Not only being in public and the possibility of being caught, but the fact that Bo had never really touched you before. 

Bo watched you squirm beside him, and read the obvious discomfort that was radiating off of you. He took a sip of his drink, still watching you. He’d been looking forward to doing something with you tonight, but you obviously weren’t into it. 

Leaning in close to your ear, Bo said against your ear. “I just wanted to see if you’d do it.” He lied. “For someone who likes getting’ angry at me, you sure are obedient.”

Your face heated up, and you looked away, relief flooding through you that nothing would be happening with all these people around. “You told me to. I trust you.” You mumbled, hoping he wouldn’t hear it over the music.

Chuckling, Bo ghosted his fingers down your arm before pulling away form you, leaning over his drink. “Next time, I’ll have something real planned.”


	14. Already Got a Family

“Can I borrow some clothes?” You leaned in close to Bo to ask, for some reason embarrassed by the request. Everyone was settling around the apartment, Lester and the girls already looking worn out from dancing and at least a little tipsy.

“Sure, one sec.” Bo ducked into his room for a moment, coming out with a pair of blue sweats and a gaudy red shirt. Deciding not to waste energy with an accusatory retort about him purposely choosing the two ugliest pieces of clothing he could possibly have, you took the clothes and went into his bedroom, shutting the door behind you.

“She has the right idea.” Paige sprawled out on the couch, stretching her hands over her head. “I want comfy clothes.”

“Should’ve thought of that before you came here.” Bo plopped down on the other side of the couch, pushing her feet off the couch. 

Paige pouted and sat up properly, giving Lester enough space to sit between them. “SO what now?”

Carly sat on the floor, her feet crossed. “We could put on a movie that we’re bound to ignore.”

“Sounds good to me.” Bo grabbed the remote, turning on the TV as you stepped out of the bedroom.

“I wanna watch cartoons.” You said through a yawn, the drinks you’d had at the club making you groggy.

“Cartoons? Seriously?” Paige asked.

“Nah, I get it.” Carly said as you sat on the floor on the other side of the couch. “I usually only watch cartoons when I’m high, but then it depends on the cartoon. I’ll watch princess movies sober.”

“I ain’t watchin’ princess movies.” Bo turned to Adult Swim, and some ugly cartoon you didn’t recognize was on. That seemed to be a fair enough compromise for everyone, because Paige immediately stood and walked to the kitchen, sorting through the pantry.

“So Lester, how’d you like the club?” You asked mostly just to avoid any awkward silence. 

“It was loud!” Lester grinned, spreading out on the couch now that Paige was occupied in the kitchen. “It was fun though, and I didn’t pay for a single drink.”

“Courtesy of us beautiful ladies!” Paige called, and Carly did an exaggerated seated bow in response.

You giggled, looking up at Lester. “That was pretty much my first time too. I don’t really get out much.”

“I don’t think I’d go without a reason.” Lester grinned. “Was nice to try though.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad. My ears are ringing like crazy, though.” You laid on your side and watched the screen as Paige stepped over you, tossing a ‘sorry, sorry’ your way as she did so to get to the couch. 

The rest of the evening went by with light conversation, a few extra beers being drunk, and – Bo thanked God for this – it went without a hitch. 

Paige and Carly were the first to go, deciding to split a cab. You wanted to leave with them, but you didn’t know them well enough to try to go home with them. And once they were gone, you didn’t want to immediately leave in case that would be rude. 

You felt yourself dozing as you waited, vaguely listening to Bo and Lester murmuring to each other over the sound of the ugly cartoons that were playing at close to two am. 

“Have you heard from Vinny?” Lester asked.

You shook your head slowly, trying to wake yourself up. You weren’t sure who Vinny was, but something in the heavy pause that followed made you want to pay attention. 

“Haven’t since the two of you turned me down.” Bo finally said, an edge to his voice that sent a shiver down your spine.

“Bo, you gotta let that go.” Lester sighed. “Vincent found good people. I found good people. You even found good people. Vincent and I were happy with our new families, he’s livin’ happily and makin’ art all over the place. I got to stay in the country. I thought you liked your foster family?”

“I ain’t about to get a new family when the first one wasn’t fuckin’ loyal. I knew I was mamma and dad’s least favorite, I just figured I’d be Vincent’s favorite. Or even yours.” Bo snapped.

You rested your head in your arms, deciding that playing asleep would be best even though you were now nearly wide awake. Your heart raced knowing you were hearing some very personal family things you probably shouldn’t be hearing. 

“What woulda been the point of goin’ back to Ambrose just the three of us?” Lester shook his head, knowing this needed to be said but wishing it could’ve been said much earlier so this reunion could have just been fun. “Ya said once your foster family wanted to adopt ya back when you were a teen and you said no. Why would you want to give that up just for the three of us to sit around in a ghost town?”

“I didn’t take Sally’s offer ‘cus I don’t need a new family. I got one, no matter how shitty it is.” Bo growled, and you heard a click and saw the room darken behind your eyelids. He’d turned off the TV.

There was a shuffling, and you felt your hair stir and a quiet ‘shit’, which had come from Lester nearly stepping on your head. His footsteps moved to the front door, and you forced yourself to stay still, even though all your social instincts wished that you could run somewhere safe, far away from this conversation. 

“I’ll see ya, Bo. I’m in town for a week.” Lester opened the front door and left, leaving you and Bo in the apartment.

You heard a deep intake of breath like Bo was about to shout, but all that left him was a hefty sigh. Bo stepped over your ‘sleeping’ form, walking to the patio door and opening it, stepping outside. You didn’t dare lift your head until you heard the door close again.

Opening one eye slowly, you turned your head towards the patio to see Bo sitting outside, a cigarette in his hand. He was facing away from you, so you took the opportunity to slowly rise, inching to the bedroom and tossing his clothes off, throwing your skimpy party dress on. Well, the first part of the night was fun, at least.

Hurrying toward the front door, you heard the patio door slide open and Bo’s drawl floated towards you.

“You gonna get home okay?” Bo slid the door shut behind him. “You seem tired.”

Turning towards him, you awkwardly shrugged one shoulder, knowing he probably figured out you’d been faking asleep. “I’ll be fine, I’ll get an Uber or something.”

“You can if you want.” Bo started unbuttoning his shirt, slipping it off his shoulders to show a black t-shirt underneath. “You can crash here too. Whatever you want.”

You paused, watching as he tossed his shirt onto the couch, agitation still clear in his movements. “Do you want me to stay?”

“Just don’t want you fallin’ asleep in the car and gettin’ abducted.” Bo unbuckled his belt, slipping it off. He started walking to his bedroom. “We can fuck if you want.”

You barked out a laugh before you could help it. “Are you serious?”

“You did come here commando.” Bo tossed his belt into his bedroom, not seeming to care where it landed. “We don’t gotta though if you don’t wanna.”

“Well…” You started, not sure how you were going to answer to that. Going home sounded nice. But you really were tired. “I’ll stay.”


	15. Holding Hands

Bo peeled off his shirt, showing off his bare chest as he tossed his shirt down. His expression was sour as he looked over at you. “I’m not gonna give up my bed, so either sleep in there with me or take the couch. You can dig in my drawer for some sleep clothes, since you changed back into your clothes. Or you can sleep naked, like I’m gonna.” He started undoing his pants, heading for the bathroom. “I’m gonna shower.”

“Okay.” You said as he closed the door. He seemed so upset you were almost bordering on afraid of him. You glanced back at his apartment door, debating just slipping out and going home. If he got mad at you for that, then he wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted anything to do with. 

The water turned on, and you set your things on his dresser, deciding to stay. You said you would stay, after all. So the next question would be a matter of would you sleep in the bed with him, or take the couch.

Sighing, you slipped out of your dress, letting it fall to the floor around your feet. It seemed that every time one of your friends talked about their sex life, they had done something crazy and added another notch to their bedpost, and you were always the boring one who just didn’t venture out in that way. And this was why you and Bo had started hanging about, right? For sex.

You shivered, either from the cold or nervousness, you weren’t sure as you walked over to his bed, slipping under the sheet. God, a sheet but no comforter, if that wasn’t a clear sign the guy was single you didn’t know what was. You could already tell you were going to spend the whole night shivering. One pillow, too. 

You rested your head on half of it, pulling the sheet up around your neck as the shower stopped. 

Bo stepped out of the shower, goosebumps on his skin. Another trick he learned. The cold water helped him focus on something other than being mad. Well, he was still mad, but not in the destructive way. Not in the Bo way that had broken so many things and scared so many people when he was growing up. 

He made quick work of brushing his teeth, already regretting how short he had been to you. He’d take it back if you were still outside. 

Wrapping the towel around his waist, he stepped outside to see you waiting for him in his bed, covered in nothing but a sheet. You turned to look at him, the turn highlighting the curve of your hip.

“I’m sleeping here.” You said, your voice small. “But, you only have one pillow. And the sheet is pretty, uh, light.”

Bo paused, glancing over to your dress that was discarded on the floor. He then looked back over at you, noting that based on your outline under the sheet, there was no way that you were wearing anything.

“I might have a spare blanket.” He said, walking to the closet and reaching inside, grabbing a blanket he usually only pulled out in the dead of winter and tossing it onto the bed. “Might have a spare pillow.” He dug a litter further, finding an old, flat pillow that was covered in old stains. “If you’d rather, I’ll take the couch.” He turned to see you with the sheet tucked securely around your chest, unfolding the blanket and spreading it over you.

You shook your head, glancing up at him, your chest still covered by the sheet. “No, it’s fine.”

Bo put the gross old pillow on his side of the bed. “I don’t know if I’ve asked this before, but what’s your body count?”

You sank back down against the pillow, not looking Bo in the eye. “Two.”

“Well, that explains that.” Bo took off the towel, noting how you were looking-trying-not-to-look. He slipped in under the sheet, folding his old pillow in half so it could support his head better and resting his head down on it. His chest was out from under the sheet, and he rested his hands behind his head, and you couldn’t help but wonder if he was flexing on purpose. “You don’t seem very confident. Or comfy, for that matter. You know, even those people with crazy wild kinks need to feel cozy before they do the kink stuff.”

“I don’t know. I start worrying about my body, or pregnancy, or anything else. And I guess you’re just intimidating. Some might say, once you get past your personality, you could be considered incredibly attractive.” You gave him a little half smile, to show that you were joking. “It felt a lot easier to do sex things over the phone.”

“Well, you’ve slept in the same bed with someone before, haven’t ya?” Bo stretched out his chest, groaning quietly. “That’s not scary in the least. No risks or nothin’.” 

You giggled. “You’re right about that.”

Bo closed his eyes for half a second before opening them back up. “Left that damn light on.” He shook his head and got back up, trying not to chuckle when you averted your eyes again. He turned off all the lights, putting you two in near perfect darkness. 

“You need to live better.” You chided him as he got back into his side of the bed.

“Explain.”

“No comforter, one pillow, left the towel on the ground, no bedside lamp. You’re such a dude.” You laughed softly while Bo made an offended sound.

“Hush up, now, I live a very good lifestyle.” Bo’s hand swatted at what he thought was your shoulder but was actually your face.

“Hey!” You laughed, pushing blindly in the dark and connecting with his arm. “Hands to yourself!”

“Then don’t hit me!” Bo grinned, grabbing your hand. 

You giggled, wrapping your fingers around his. “Truce, truce, I’m tired.”

“Truce, then.” He moved to drop his hand but found yours was still securely in his. He then lowered his hand to the bed, yours still in his. 

“Night.” You mumbled. 

“Night.” Bo replied. 

Neither of you could remember if you’d ever fallen asleep holding someone’s hand before.


	16. Morning

The warmth was the first thing Bo noticed, waking up. The second thing he noticed was that he was being held by someone. That wasn’t an entirely unusual feeling for him, seeing as he’d had a fair amount of one-night stands in his life. It wasn’t unusual to wake up to someone by his side. But this time was different, he realized as he become more fully conscious. He hadn’t had sex the night before. He’d just fallen asleep, and woken up with you tangled in his arms.

Your breath was soft, and it heated up his shoulder where your lips where barely grazing his skin. Your naked body was pressed against his, soft and warm. It reminded him of a stuffed animal at a carnival he’d wanted when he was a kid. His dad wouldn’t buy it for him, wouldn’t even let him try to play to win it, because it ‘was too girly.’ 

Bo always remembered that stuffed animal. Looking back, he could never remember what was girly about it. His dad had been really angry Bo had even asked for it. It had turned out to be a very bad day once they’d gotten home.

He buried his face in your hair, breathing you in. Bo always did have a tendency to cling to things in his sleep, except it usually ended up being his blankets. You really did remind him of a cozy stuffed animal, something he was – even now – too ashamed to admit he wanted. Too ashamed to buy for himself. 

You shifted, grumbling softly as you began waking up as well. You made a noise that sounded confused, and then another one that sounded surprised as you realized what position the two of you were in. Bo tried his hardest not to chuckle, knowing you’d just snap and pull away from him if he poked fun at you. And he wanted you to stay beside him. 

“Mornin’.” He mumbled, keeping his arms around you. “Didn’t expect to wake up like this.”

“I didn’t either.” You replied, your body relaxing slightly against him. “You’re really warm, I probably thought you were an electric blanket.”

Bo chuckled, straining to see you in his pitch-black room. “You love it.”

“Maybe.” You teased. Resting your head back against his shoulder, the both of you quieted down, allowing yourselves a lazy morning. 

Bo’s hand trailed up and down your back, his fingers rough and calloused. The lightness of his touch made you shiver, your body unused to it. 

“Hey, Bo?” You said softly.

“Mmhmm?” He replied, too lazy to reply with words.

“Well, it’s dark in here.” You paused, trying to think of a way to word this without seeming too awkward. “I’d, um. If you’re in the mood… god I hate this.”

Smiling to himself, Bo moved his hand to your face, tilting it towards his. Even if he couldn’t see you very well, he needed you facing him. “You could just make the first move sometime.”

“I’m too scared of getting rejected.” You breathed. “It would be too embarrassing.”

“I’m not gonna reject ya.” Bo murmured, his lips meeting yours as he finished his sentence. You made a small noise of surprise before kissing him back, your hands snaking around his neck. He didn’t pull back even as his hand trailed down your front, down between your thighs. 

You spread your legs slightly, making it easier for him to touch you. You thought he would go straight for it, but instead he let his hand hover on your thighs, trailing between the two, then back up to your lower abdomen and back down to your thighs, his lips never leaving yours, even as you gasped from the sensation.

His hand gently gripped one of your thighs, guiding it until your leg was wrapped around his hip. His fingers then trailed along your inner thigh, until they finally found your clit.

When you pulled back for air, you could vaguely see him grinning in the low light of the room. “Good girl.” He breathed before pressing his lips back against yours, his finger slowly tracing around your clit. 

Your moans were muffled against his lips, his fingers dipping lower as his thumb took their place at your clit, continuing to rub you as he slipped two fingers into you, moving them slowly.

“Fuck, you’re tight.” He hissed, spreading his two fingers apart, earning a cute sound from you. “And wet.”

Biting your lip, you buried your face in his shoulder, tangling your fingers in his hair. You slowly rolled your hips, wanting more feeling from him. Bo noticed and upped the pace of his fingers, his other arm still firmly around you.

“That’s it, move if you wanna.” Bo murmured, reveling in every sound you made, and every twitch of your body. Hearing these sounds over the phone had been nice, but having you right in front of him, squirming beside him, it was so so superior. 

You moaned lowly, moving your hips more, feeling yourself getting closer to the edge as the two of you moved together. You tugged on his hair, earning a low groan from him. 

“You feel good.” You gasped out, grinding more into his hand.

“This isn’t the best I could make you feel, baby.” He rubbed your clit harder, sensing that you were getting closer. “I’ll make you feel even better if you just ask.”

Clinging to him tighter, your body shook as you came. Bo kept moving his had as you moved against him, not stopping until you finally stilled. “Good girl.” He purred against your forehead as your body relaxed.


	17. Smile

You stood in the shower, trying to make it fast so you wouldn’t keep Bo waiting. You knew as the water rushed over your face that your bangs would be all kinds of messed up once you got out and that Bo would probably tease you for it. But you didn’t really mind his teasing, and you did kind of regret cutting the bangs. They were a lot of work that you weren’t up to at the moment.

Stepping out of the shower, you wrapped a towel around yourself and stepped out into the bedroom, gathering up a pair of pants and one of Bo’s shirts, putting them on.

Bo leaned on the kitchen counter, looking at his sparse cabinet. He wasn’t usually the kind of guy who made breakfast, much less ate breakfast, but it felt like he needed to provide something. He clicked his tongue, wondering if it would be too much to just go out. He wasn’t even really hungry. He was never hungry in the mornings.

“Hey Bo.” You walked out of the bedroom, towel-drying your hair. “You wouldn’t happen to have any-.” Your train of thought died when you saw the scars on his wrists.

You’d probably seen them last night – he was naked in front of you! But you had been so nervous you must not have noticed them. 

Bo quirked his brow, looking down at his wrists. He forgot he was just wearing a t-shirt. “Notice somethin’?”

“Sorry.” You looked up at him. “Your shirt is really tight.”

He laughed, walking over and lightly flicking your forehead. “You’re a bad liar.”

“Sorry.” You repeated, flicking his arm in response and flashing him an awkward smile. “I didn’t mean to stare.”

“Shit happens.” Bo shrugged, and you weren’t entirely sure if the shit he was referring to was his scars or your reaction. “I don’t have any food.”

“You wanna just get Starbucks and call it good?” You threw the towel over your shoulder. “It’s about as many calories as a small meal anyway.”

Bo gave you that little smirk of his, reaching up and pulling a small chunk of your wet bangs taught. “Sounds like a good compromise.”

“I’ll put on my own clothes then.” You turned back to his room.

“Cool.” He replied, picking up a flannel from the couch and throwing it on. You put on your dress, regretting all over again that you hadn’t worn underwear. You went into his closet and snatched one of his jackets, throwing it on as well. It was so big that it actually came down to the bottom of your dress.

“I’m stealing this!” You called, walking out of the bedroom.

“I like that jacket.” Bo half-heartedly complained, heading out the door, you trailing behind him.

“Let me wear underwear next time and you get to keep your own clothes.” You laughed, lightly punching his arm as he locked the door behind him.

“Yeah, yeah, I brought this on myself.” He rolled his eyes as the two of you headed down to the street, the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile. 

“That you did.” You put the hood up over your head to block your wet hair from the wind. 

The nearest Starbucks was only a block away, and the two of you continued your banter as you walked. You hadn’t fake-punched someone this much or just relentlessly teased someone this much since middle school. Bo just brought out that juvenile part of you that didn’t know how to handle a crush. 

“Maybe next time you can come to my apartment.” You lightly bumped him with your hip as the green sign alerted you two to impending caffeine. “Then I’ll write another chapter with your help.”

“I wouldn’t mind that.” He opened up the door for you. “You probably actually have food at your place.”

“Yes, because I am a human being.” You chuckled as you stepped inside, until you saw who was in front of you in line, and you froze. 

“[Y/N]? You’re blockin’ the entrance. Scoot n’ boot.” Bo’s words sounded muffled, and you vaguely felt him brush past you. The blood rushed in your ears, causing a rumbling sound that drowned out everything as the person in front of you turned around.

He was frowning in confusion, but when his eyes fell on you, he smiled. The bastard had the audacity to smile at you.

“I thought I heard you.” Ned smiled.


	18. Coffee

Your bangs were a mess. Your makeup was gone. Your clothes were from the night before – no underwear on top of that. Bo’s jacket hung on you two times too big. Did you even comb your hair before you left Bo’s apartment? What about your teeth, you just swished with toothpaste. Your breath probably smelled. God, why couldn’t you have run into this asshole last night when you were all pretty and ready for a night on the town?

It was funny how your first thoughts were mostly about your appearance, but you had pictured when you would see him again over and over again ever since he broke up with you. And of course, the one time you two did manage to clash, your face was naked and your clothes were frumpy. 

Bo raised his eyebrow slightly, looking Ned up and down. So this was the guy. He glanced over at you. You weren’t only frozen, you looked terrified. He wished he could silently ask you how you wanted to go about it, but judging from the look in your eyes you either had no thoughts in your head or several thoughts too many. 

“You know this guy?” Bo raised his eyebrow at Ned, stepping closer to your side.

You blinked out of your fog, looking up at Bo. For a split second, you were confused because he knew who Ned was. Finally you realized he was playing dumb for your sake. It would seem pretty pathetic if Ned knew you spent most of your time talking about him. “Right. Bo, this is my ex, Ned.”

“Ex, huh?” Bo pretended to muse, smirking as he held out his hand. “Nice ta meet ya, ex.”

Ned raised his eyebrow slightly before taking his hand. “Ned, like she said.” Ned flinched as Bo squeezed his hand a tad too hard while shaking. He pulled back his hand, frowning at Bo.

Bo kept the smirkish smile on his face, glancing between Ned and the cashier. “You’re holdin’ up the line, Ned.”

Ned twirled around to see the cashier giving him an annoyed look. “Damn.” He hurried to the front, ordering.

“Thank you.” You whispered, looking up at Bo as you tried to finger-fix your hair. “I wasn’t ready.”

He shrugged, brushing a section of your bangs out of your eye. “No big deal. And stop fussin’, you look fine.” He mumbled back.

Ned paid for his order, stepping out of the way for you two. He eyed you as you ordered, realizing that the jacket you were wearing wasn’t yours. His eyes slid over to Bo, narrowing slightly. His, then? That was unlike you. You sure as hell didn’t know this guy when the two of you were dating.

Well, it wasn’t really like it mattered, since the two of you had broken up. If you were actually going out and getting more adventurous, then good for you. Unfortunate for the Bo guy, seeing as how you rarely tried anything new in the bedroom. Either way, it didn’t effect Ned anymore.

Bo glanced over at Ned again, instantly making Ned prickle in irritation. What was this guy’s problem?

“Here’s your drinks.” The barista said, handing Ned his drinks.

He shot back a thank you, glad to be getting out of this stupid coffee shop and away from you and Bo. Bo was giving him creepy vibes, he didn’t like it.

You offered him a half-wave as Ned turned to leave. He nodded back, glancing back at Bo to see that creepy half-smirk on his face. Something about that smirk made Ned feel like Bo knew something he shouldn’t.

Ned hurried out, glad to get away from him.

“He was holding two coffees.” You mumbled, letting your hand fall back to your side. “The other one is probably for that girl.”

“Yeah, and you’re getting two coffees. One for this handsome stud here.” Bo pulled the hood over your head, laughing when you shouted in surprise. “Seems to me like you had the upper hand, there.”

You peeked out from under the hood. “You think so?”

“Either way, it was fun making him uncomfortable.” Bo grabbed the drinks when the barista called his name. “Now if that doesn’t give you motivation to go home and write, then just say you’ve moved on and forget about the guy.”

Taking your coffee from him, you smiled to yourself. “I still want to crush him.”

“That’s my girl.” Bo said, taking a swig of his drink.


	19. Yoga

“So I was doing some research, and even though Ned writes like – Goosebumps sized erotica books – apparently you can get by writing essentially just flash fiction. But you have to write a lot of it and often, and those do better in some weird niche sex thing that people don’t really write for.” You blabbered, staring at your computer screen. “But you can really only publish those online and apparently it’s a slippery slope because books like that often get flagged by people who somehow didn’t know what they were getting into and they might get taken down. That would be a lot easier to dip my toes into than trying to write a full fledged book with no experience, even if I sure don’t have quantity on my side it’s a start. It can be as short as four thousand words sometimes or the size of a novella.”

Bo lazily glanced in your direction, resting his phone on his knee. “Weren’t you supposed to be writing?”

You paused.

“I was. But research is just as important.” You finally said, turning back to the article on the screen. “It may help me get things out there faster.”

“You were supposed to be editin’, weren’t you?” Bo smirked.

“Why did I ever invite you into my home?” You asked, avoiding the question.

Bo chuckled, picking his phone up and unlocking it again. Though he’d never been in your apartment before, he felt right at home. It was a few days since the incident with Ned, and he was afraid that you would go into another one of your spirals, but you seemed to be holding yourself together fairly well. “I can’t read it ‘til you’re done, and you said you were almost done.”

“Boesphine, I swear to Christ, I’m getting there.” You snapped, opening up your document again. “I am almost done, but if I change this story into many smaller stories, I’ll have more out sooner.”

“You’ll have to edit them more if you wanna change one whole story into lots of smaller ones.” He flashed his phone for you to see, but you were at the kitchen table and he was on the couch, and so you couldn’t see what it was he was showing you. “If you’re serious about all this, you need to make some accounts for your stuff. Like on Instagram.”

“Like, accounts with my face on them? Are you crazy? This is some crazy petty revenge plan to pass time, and you want me to put my face on a bunch of smut?” You laughed, reading over the words you had read a thousand times before. You’d read them so many times you couldn’t even tell if they were good or not anymore. All the sentences felt boring and mundane. 

“If you make a TikTok, yeah, you’d need to put your face on it. But with Insta and Twitter you can get by with pictures and memes. Probably wanna go heavy on the memes at first to lure people into a false sense of security before bombarding them with advertisements for your stuff.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, still scanning your overread words. “Not a bad idea.” You sighed, pushing away from the table and running your hands through your hair, feeling the beginnings of a tension headache coming on. “I’m calling it, please just be my beta reader already.”

“Fine, fine.” Bo dropped his phone and pushed himself off the couch, sauntering over to you and pulling your chair out with you still in it. “Scoot ‘n boot. And drink some water or somethin’.”

Groaning, you got out of your chair, and lightly poked him in the chest before brushing past him to the kitchen. “Appreciate you.”

“That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Bo said sarcastically as he plopped down into your seat, but he couldn’t hide the traces of a genuine smile on his face.

You smiled as you got your water and sank down onto what was previously Bo’s spot on the couch, happy to have a moment without having to look at words you wrote yourself. His phone beside you dinged, and you glanced at it reflexively.

Two unread messages. One from ‘Mama’ with the message ‘Dinner on Friday?’ That one made you smile slightly. So, Bo was a mama’s boy, huh? You never would’ve guessed. 

The second one was from Lester, this was the one that had made the phone go off. It said, ‘Vinny is flying over since we’re together like this. He…’ and the message on the lock screen trailed off, the whole text too long to display.

You paused, looking back forward and sipping your drink. Even though it was a reflexive glance, you still felt bad for prying. But, curiosity outweighed the guilt. You still didn’t entirely know who ‘Vinny’ was, but you figured he must have been the third Sinclair brother. Something seemed odd about the anger Bo seemed to hold toward him.

“Have you spoken to Lester since Saturday? How long is he in town?” You called over.

“Thought you wanted me to read this.” Bo mumbled towards the screen. “You use the word ‘pussy’ too much, by the way.”

“I don’t like the other words for vagina!” You defended. “Change a few of them, then.”

“And, no, I haven’t talked to ‘im. Because I got pissed off at an old family issue of ours.” Bo followed up, glancing back at you. “I should reach out. I know I outta. That’s what my therapist would tell me to do before he leaves town. I just hate admittin’ I was wrong.”

“That’s…incredibly inciteful.” You said. 

Bo nodded. “Gotta be.” He said simply.

You nodded slowly, your stomach sinking at the thought of him finding out that the illusive ‘Vinny’ was coming to town. There was so much you didn’t understand about Bo and his family, but the one thing you knew for sure was that he tried really hard to be good. It didn’t seem to come easy to him, but he did it. 

“I was just wondering.” You rose from the couch, sinking to the ground and forming a yoga pose.

Bo cocked his brow, staring at your downward dog for a moment too long before turning back to the screen. “Finally working out?”

“Trying to find my Zen.” You corrected, going through the few movements you knew on repeat as he edited your story. “We’re both working really hard. To be better.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, still staring at the screen. He kind of knew what you meant. He didn’t know how to reply, though. So instead, he kept reading, letting you do your yoga in peace.


	20. Easy

Bo rubbed his eyes, sighing heavily. “What is it about sitting in front of a computer that makes me so damn tired?”

“I already sit in front of a computer all day for work.” You replied, still going through some yoga movements. 

“I was never cut out for that kinda life.” Bo stretched backwards in the chair, groaning. “’S why I became a mechanic instead.”

Lying on your side on the floor, you eyed the skin of his midriff as his shirt rode up, only looking back up at his face once he completed the stretch and his shirt fell back down. “Quitting time?”

“Actually, I finished it.” He smirked, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked legitimately tired. “Not bad, not bad, kid.”

“Wait, like finished it finished it?” You shot up, rushing over to his side and looking at the document as if there was anything new there for you to see? “What did you think? Did it suck?”

“I just said it wasn’t bad.” He tapped your cheek. “Relax.”

“But not bad doesn’t mean good!” You frowned. “Were the sex scenes totally cringey?”

“I promise, it was good. There were a few grammar things and a few draggy paragraphs, nothin’ can’t be fixed.” He yawned, rubbing his face. “After a couple more read throughs each, all you’ll need as a name and a cover.”

“A cover.” You paused. “I haven’t even thought of that.”

A sly smile spread across his face. “I could be the cover.”

You thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Actually, yeah. I’ve seen you naked, you totally have an erotica book body.”

He blinked, obviously not expecting you to agree with him. “Oh. Well, yeah.”

“All we’d need is some strategic lighting, maybe some contouring on your stomach to make your muscles look more defined, and probably just a black background would be fine. We could use a black sheet. I can steal the lamp from my desk at work. I hate that lamp anyway, the bulb is too bright.” You straightened up, happy to be thinking about an aspect of the book that didn’t involve you having to think about writing. And something about thinking of a cover just seemed so straightforward and so fun compared to all the writing you’d just put yourself through. “I could maybe hire a lady, or it could just be your chest and the title. I should look up erotica covers.”

Bo smiled slightly, watching you as you talked your way through the process of coming up with a cover. “Glad you’re havin’ fun.”

You stopped, offering him a smile. “Thanks, Bo. For all of this. This is fun. I don’t know if this is worth doing over and over again, but this is definitely something I never would have done on my own.”

He nodded, standing. “Anytime.”

Hesitantly, you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him into a gentle hug, running your hand up and down his back. He paused, wrapping his arms around you too, cupping the back of your head with his hand. Instinctively, he wanted to make some kind of smart ass comment and ruin the moment, but he pushed that urge down.

You pulled back, lightly pressing your knuckles to his jaw in a faux punch. “I can tell that really wore you out. Why don’t you steal my bed for a couple hours?”

“Oh?” Bo took your wrist, pulling your hand away from his face. 

“Yeah, why not?” You said. “I’ll nap with you. I’m pretty tired too.”

“You know what, I actually wouldn’t mind that.” He pulled his shirt off his head, flashing you a smile. “But you know I sleep naked.”

“I know, I know.” You rolled your eyes, heading to the bedroom. “Weirdo.”

Bo chuckled, watching you go. He spotted his phone on the couch, grabbing it. He turned on the screen, seeing he missed two messages. The text from his mama was fairly normal, but it was the one from Lester that made him pause.

‘Vinny is flying over since we’re together like this. He’d like to meet up the three of us like old times.’

Bo blew air out his mouth until all the air was out of his lungs. Vincent, huh? How many years had it been? He closed his eyes, taking another deep breath and breathing out through his nose. He’d have to reply to this text. 

After the nap. He wanted his nap first.

He started stripping out of his pants, following you to the bedroom to see you happily curled up in bed, scrolling through your phone on your side. It was a nice sight to see. 

“See you in a couple hours.” He said, sliding under the sheets by your side, resting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

“Night.” You replied absentmindedly, watching a video at a low volume. 

Bo smiled to himself, peeking at you through a half-open eye. This felt nice. Easy. Why couldn’t everything just be nice and easy all the time?


End file.
